wowwikifandomcom-20200223-history
Shaman tactics
=General Tactics= Weapon Choice Two intersecting debates rage around the "best" weapon choice for the shaman: "shield vs. two-handed weapon" and "big weapon vs. fast weapon". All sides of these debates make decent points, which suggests that this is largely a matter of personal style; however whatever road you decide to walk weapons-wise, make sure the rest of your abilities (see the Talents section, below, in particular) enhance the strategy you've chosen, as shaman have some abilities that lend themselves to one style and different abilities that lend themselves to other styles. In no particular order, the three basic possibilities are these: Two-Handed Weapon Using a two-handed weapon means much higher damage per second, but forgoing a shield. Thus, the idea is to crush your opponent quickly, before being injured too badly. Another argument for this style is that many two-handed weapons, particularly staffs, are available with significant boosts to attributes useful to the shaman. Using this style, Flametongue Weapon is often the best choice for a weapon buff, as slower weapons gain more fire damage than faster ones. Windfury Weapon is another excellent choice, as the one-in-five chance to get two additional attacks effectively increases the speed of the weapon. Shield and Fast Weapon Fast weapons, like daggers, produce similar damage per second of other one-handed weapons, but increase the rate at which attacks are made. The idea here is that the shaman has a number of abilities that work on a "per strike" basis, so the more swings you make, the more benefits you get from such abilities. Naturally, using a one-handed weapon frees the other hand for a shield, which radically increases a shaman's armor rating, particularly below level 40. The other weapon buffs are all useful with this style. Rockbiter Weapon increases the base power of the weapon. The remaining weapon buffs, Frostbrand Weapon and Windfury Weapon have a chance to produce an effect with each hit. Shield and Big Weapon The style combines the previous two, sacrificing some of the punch of a two-handed weapon for better defense. Both Flametongue Weapon and Rockbiter Weapon are useful with this style. Combat Whatever weapon choice you make, make sure you have a weapon buff on at all times. If you are soloing, always keep your Lightning Shield active, and be prepared to reactivate it in the middle of combat, possibly repeatedly. If you are in a group and are playing a support/healing role, you may want to be careful about activating Lightning Shield, since it will tend to make it harder to pull aggro from you. Most combats will start with a Flame Shock, the shaman's only non-totem DoT spell. It is usually a good idea to keep a lower-powered shock in reserve to prevent your opponent from fleeing or casting a spell on you. Earth Shock can disrupt casting, so you may want to keep one ready at all times. Unless you are reserving mana, you should always have a Stoneskin Totem up. You can have one totem of each element active at once, but these will largely be situational. For example, the Searing Totem will crank up your damage curve, but in close quarters may attack mobs you were not quite ready to engage. Totems You need to undertake certain quests to gain your totems; however, you need not go out of your way to do these quests with all possible haste. The level at which you are available for these quests is far enough below the level when you gain the spells that require the totem that you have some leeway. You should do them at earliest opportunity, but find quests in the same area you are going so you can maximize that (often sizable) travel time these quests require. Using your totem spells to maximum advantage is more art than science. Since you can only use one of each element at a time, which one you select will depend on the situation you are in. Talents Selecting Shaman Talents efficiently is a bit more subtle than with some of the other classes. Some of this selection goes hand in hand with your weapon selection (mentioned above). For example, the Thundering Strikes talent lends itself to a fast weapon style while two-handed styles will almost definitely want the Two-Handed Axes and Maces talent. Another consideration is how (or if) you want to specialize in, say, healing instead of elemental combat. Good talent builders are available at the WoW Vault and ThottBot, each with comments on various strategies for talent use. Key Spells As with all classes, some of the shaman's spells are more useful than others. Some have uses that are not immediately obvious. * Earth Shock is not as useful for direct damage as Flame Shock and Frost Shock, but it disrupts casting. Against casters, or in PvP, it can be extremely useful. * The DoT of a Flame Shock provides a cheap way to bump the shaman's damage curve. * Ghost Wolf has been called the best ability in the game by some and aids escaping significantly, particularly with the Improved Ghost Wolf talent. * The Stoneclaw Totem can be used when being chased or to escape several opponents. It is fairly easy to generate more aggro than the totem, though, so isn't quite as useful as it sounds. * While number of spells are available to slow opponents (e.g. Earthbind Totem, Frost Shock, Frostbrand Weapon), the shaman has none that completely root an opponent. * The Lesser Healing Wave spells can be cast up to twice as fast, generate less threat, and are slightly more mana efficient, than the Healing Wave spell the shaman will know at the same time, but don't heal as much damage. Generally you'll have one of each at your fingertips all of the time. * Generous casting of the Windfury Totem will make the Warriors in your group love you, since it increases their attack rate and therefore their rate of rage buildup. Gear All other things being equal, take gear that boosts Spirit, Intellect and, to a lesser extent, Stamina over gear that doesn't. =PvE Tactics= Solo PvE Tactics When soloing, totems that affect your group will, naturally, not be as cost-effective. Often, you will want to reserve mana for Earth Shocks, so might not drop totems as often. You will almost always be more than a match for a single mob of equal, or even slightly higher, level. You will almost always lose to two such mobs at once, unless you are about four or five levels higher than them. So, when fighting multiple opponents, it will be worth throwing some mana around, particularly on effects that affect all opponents, like Earthbind Totem or Fire Nova Totem. The Searing Totem often isn't as effective in such cases, because the opponent you are not actively fighting will tend to destroy it. Group PvE Tactics The Shaman can play many roles in a group, including melee, caster, and support. He is not as strong as a specialist at any of these, but he can quickly shift gears if needed. Some general notes: * Stoneskin Totem is always useful. The more people in your group, the more it helps. * Disrupting enemy casters with Earth Shock helps deal with healers and ranged casters * Windfury Totem dramatically increases the DPS and rage buildup of your frontline fighters. * Quick casts of Cure Disease and Cure Poison can cancel enemy DoT attacks * Frost Shock and Earthbind Totem can slow down enemy adds or prevent fleeing mobs from gathering reinforcements Sadly, Healing Stream Totem and Mana Spring Totem are really not all that useful. The amount of damage or mana provided by these totems is so much lower than what is being spent that you're almost always better off saving the mana to get the combat over quicker. =PvP Tactics= Solo PvP Tactics Group PvP Tactics Raid PvP Tactics Category:Shaman